PHUMELELA has announced that with effect Wednesday 4 May, all Win, Place and Swinger bets taken with TAB on Hong Kong races will be transmitted directly into Hong Kong’s gigantic tote pools.

Commingling the three pools presents exciting opportunities for TAB customers, who will be able to take huge Win, Place and Swinger bets on Hong Kong races without significantly affecting payouts.

The average win pool on a Hong Kong race is R50 million, while Place pools average R40 million and Swinger pools R55 million. Betting turnover in Hong Kong is nearly R200 billion annually.

“Phumelela would like to thank the Hong Kong Jockey Club for enabling TAB to commingle pools on these three bet types. It’s a big boost to TAB betting on Hong Kong races because it gives TAB customers access to Hong Kong payouts and the chance to bet much bigger amounts without unduly affecting dividends,” said Phumelela Betting Executive Vee Moodley.

The unit cost of Win, Place and Swinger bets on Hong Kong races will be R2 with a R6 minimum for Win and Place.

Win pools are operated on all races with two or more runners with Swinger pools on races with seven or more runners.

Place betting details are as follows:

* 3 or less carded runners – no Place pool

* 4 to 6 carded runners – Place payouts first and second

* 7 carded runners or more – Place payouts first, second and third

TAB operates betting on all Hong Kong midweek meetings and major Sunday fixtures.

All pools barring Win, Place and Swinger will be hosted by TAB as normal.